Anti-vaxxers believe that vaccines are created to cause harm as they do not know what is in them and those who do know are opposed to the idea of being injected with a part of a virus. Perhaps, their concerns are valid as the criticism is based on sanitary, religious, and political concerns. Science has always presented facts that have opposed the religious beliefs of many people and have negated their faith. Why should they believe in something that has tried to uproot their belief system? Sanitation has become better over the years and it has been proved that bacteria and viruses cannot survive in sanitized areas so that just defeats the purpose of vaccination. On top of all these people, who get vaccination still get the disease for which they got vaccines. So vaccines do nothing even after being administered. It seems like there are more risks involved in getting vaccines than not getting them at all (Boulanger, 2017).
This is a very weak argument as many of these claims have been dismissed by scholars and researchers alike. Many mainstream religions also not against vaccines but consider them a gift from God and advise their followers to accept them as one. Good hygiene and sanitization can indeed help in eliminating many bacteria and viruses but these still fall short against more evolved diseases. The purpose of the vaccines is not to stop a person from getting that disease but to develop antibodies that will help in strengthening the immune system so it can effectively fight against the virus. There are no known risks or side effects caused by vaccines and the belief that autism is caused by vaccines is completely false. It has been proved that autism is caused by genetics and non-genetic environmental influences. Many of these beliefs can be debunked by properly educating the masses about vaccines. There is a lot of research to back the claim that vaccines are safe and protect against the disease. Countless lives have been saved due to vaccines through immunization efforts and there is a vast amount of data to back up this claim. Vaccines are extremely important in preserving the lives of the people and these are also a cost-effective method of prevention from diseases (King & Hadler, 1994).
References
Boulanger, A. (2017, September 15). Anti Vaxxers: Understanding Opposition to Vaccines. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/vaccinations/opposition
King, G., & Hadler, S. (1994). Simultaneous administration of childhood vaccines: An important public health policy that is safe and efficacious. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 13, 394–407.
